Intelligentsia Cup 2018: The Introduction
As we dig into a new work week the most recent edition of the Intelligentsia Cup remains fresh in our minds. And not just because our bags have yet to be unpacked and several of us are sporting fresh road rash from the Series. Rather this freshness largely reflects how all-encompassing the Intelligentsia Cup experience is. Last year's write-up speaks to this point but mentally and physically Intelligentsia Cup is different from just about any other series in the country. String together 10-days of highly competitive racing and strange/exciting/beautiful things that linger in your mind are bound to happen.
That was certainly the case for the To Be Determined squad at the 2018 Intelligentsia Cup as our eight riders experienced just about every emotion under the sun during the series. There was the pain of crashing to the rough concrete tarmac of South Chicago at 35 miles per hour (healing vibes Seb!). There was the joy of racking up three podiums and a dozen or so top ten finishes. There was the clarity of having one goal day-in and day-out for a full week: racing bikes to the best of our respective abilities. And there was the exhaustion of long days at the races cheering on friends old and new before dealing with Chicago traffic just to get home and get a few hours of sleep before doing it all over again.
Given all this we're still mentally processing the successes and disappointments experienced at Intelligentsia Cup while also trying to transition back to 'real life'. In the coming weeks as we compile more complete thoughts on the series we'll have more to share - including a huge 500+ image gallery featuring every day of racing. But in the interim we want to share a few teaser images from the first Saturday of racing at Lake Bluff and articulate our immense gratitude to all of the staff and volunteers who worked behind the scenes to make Intelligentsia Cup happen. It remains one of our favorite weeks of the entire year and the sport is undeniably better for the existence of a series like Intelligentsia Cup. Stay tuned for more on the journal in the coming weeks...
A New York City based cyclist and sometimes photographer. Part adventure rider, part crit racer, and fully obsessed with an English bulldog named Winifred.
Instagram: @photorhetoric
E-mail: matthew@tobedetermined.cc
A hot week in Chicago racing the Intelligentsia Cup